


Rodents trapped in Bramble

by StupidFurry_McFur



Category: Warriors - Erin Hunter
Genre: Fanclans, Multi, because it's fun >:(, edgy oc, just another warrior cats story with ocs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-27
Updated: 2020-09-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:27:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26129524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StupidFurry_McFur/pseuds/StupidFurry_McFur
Summary: After a young apprentice, Shadowpaw, drives out SunClan's only medicine cat, Brambleberry, a great sickness hits the clans, leaving those untreated to die. Shadowpaw must make a journey to find Brambleberry, and save his clan.
Relationships: OC/OC
Kudos: 1





	1. Allegiances

#  _Allegiances_

**_SwampClan_ **

**_Leader_**  
Toadstar - A grey speckled-tabby tom with yellow eyes and a stub tail 

**_Deputy_**  
Sunsetbelly - A chubby dark calico she-cat with blue eyes   
Apprentice, Ebonypaw

 _ **Medicine Cat**_  
Oddeyes - a cream-colored munchkin she-cat with a blue and green eye   
Apprentice, Bisonpaw

 ** _Warriors_**  
Ravenshadow - a dark long limb tom with long fur   
Apprentice, Bluepaw  
Rowanblaze - A dark-ginger tabby tom   
Apprentice, Larkpaw  
Froststrom - A grey and white tabby tom   
Goldenstride - A golden striped short-haired tom with orange eyes   
Apprentice, Sunpaw  
Hollyfur - a grey ragdoll she-cat   
Poppypool - A brown munchkin she-cat with a black tail   
Apprentice, Cedarpaw  
Sparkclaw - A tall peter-bald brown tabby tom   
Sliverstrike - a light-gray British short-hair she-cat 

_**Apprentices**_  
Larkpaw - a gray-orange patched she-cat with a scrunched-up face   
Cedarpaw - A tall ginger-black she-cat   
Sunpaw - A cream-colored tabby she-cat   
Ebonypaw - A brown-cream colored tom with amber eyes   
Bisonpaw - A black-brown tom with amber eyes   
Bluepaw - A grayish-blueish white-bellied she-cat with green eyes 

_**Queens**_  
Patchflight - an orange tabby she-cat with long whiskers 

_**Elders**_  
Coppermask - A white-ginger she-cat   
Rosemaryfur - a short-furred siamese she-cat 

_**Kits**_  
Whitekit - A white she-cat   
Sootkit - a black she-cat with long whiskers   
Crowkit - A black sun-bleached she-cat 

**_ StormCl _ ** **_an_ **

_**Leader**_  
Horsestar - A dark brown she-cat with a long furred tail 

_**Deputy**_  
Ivysnap - A brown muzzled she-cat with brown patches and white paws 

_**Medicine Cat**_  
Nightwing - A black tabby tom with long fur 

_**Warriors**_  
Lilyheart - A peter-bald ginger tom with yellow eyes   
Lavendercry - A tall dark-ginger she-cat with patches of bald on her fur   
Apprentice, Frogpaw  
Spottedfang - A spotted calico she-cat with large fangs   
Timbermoss - A large black tom with green eyes   
Sheepdash - A cream and black she-cat with smokey colored limbs   
Mapletalon - A dark orange marine coon she-cat   
Talonclaw - A reddish she-cat with long fur 

_**Apprentices**_  
Frogpaw - A bright orange she-cat 

_**Queens**_  
Hawkcall - A dark tabby peter-bald she-cat 

_**Elders**_  
None.

 _ **Kits**_  
Rootkit - A specked golden tom   
Tawnykit - A light-brown tom   
Bumblekit - A black she-cat with dark brown markings   
Volekit - A brown tom   
Wolf kit - A grayish white she-cat 

  
_**AshClan** _

_**Leader**_  
Sweetstar - A golden-brown Burmese she-cat 

_**Deputy**_  
Dappledshade - A dark dappled tom with long, thick fur 

_**Medicine Cat**_  
Brightpelt - A white she-cat   
Apprentice, Reedpaw

 _ **Warriors**_  
Dovesight - A greyish-blue she-cat   
Cherryshell - A red-orange she-cat   
Owlswoop - A cream colored Ragdoll tom with dark brown markings   
Apprentice, Hollypaw  
Foxfang - A dark red tom with deep blue eyes   
Apprentice, Pebblepaw

 _ **Apprentices**_  
Hollypaw - A dark-ginger and white tabby she-cat   
Reedpaw - A brown tom with white freckles   
Pebblepaw - a dark-grey speckled tom 

**_Queens_**  
Chestnutheart - A short-haired she-cat with long fur at her feet   
Fawnshadow - A reddish-brown she-cat with curly whiskers 

_**Elders**_  
Rainsweptface - An orange she-cat with white patches on her face 

_**Kits**_  
Ravenkit - A blackish-grey she-cat   
Turtlekit - A creamy dappled she-cat 

  
**_SunClan_ **

_**Leader**_  
Heavystar - A large tuxedo tom 

_**Deputy**_  
Frostmask - A Siamese tabby she-cat   
Apprentice, Shadowpaw

 _ **Medicine Cat**_  
Brambleberry - A brown tabby tom with a commando collar 

**_Warriors_**  
Jayfrost - A light-grey she-cat   
Apprentice, Gingerpaw  
Coldbite - A light grey tabby tom with black paws   
Redstrike - A dark red tabby tom   
Apprentice, Heatherpaw  
Swiftdawn - A white and dark-red tabby she-cat   
Hollowcall - A mute dark-brown tabby tom   
Spottedsand - A white and beige speckled she-cat   
Snailtrot - A dark-orange tom   
Mintpool - A grey she-cat with pale green eyes 

_**Apprentices**_  
Shadowpaw - A tall black tom with blue eyes   
Heatherpaw - A beige, orange patched tom with curly fur   
Gingerpaw - A ginger tabby tom 

_**Queens**_  
Acornheart - A dark brown she-cat   
Softbreeze - A black she-cat with white spots   
Blizzardshade - A white she-cat with light grey dapples 

**_Elders_**  
Spidershade - A large black tabby tom   
Quietears - A hard hearing she-cat 

_**Kits**_  
Icykit - A white she-cat with dark-brown speckles   
Thunderkit - A dark-brown tom   
Otterkit - A dark brown tabby she-cat   
Molekit - A light brown tom with black speckles   
Copperkit - A dark ginger tabby she-cat   
Squirrelkit - An orange tabby tom 

  
_**Cats Outside Clans** _

Oscar - a brown tabby tom   
Norah - A ginger tabby she-cat   
Pepper - A brown American Curl she-cat   
Sharpfang - A large Russian Blue tom 


	2. Prologue

_ Prologue _ __

There was a gathering between the four clans. There was a dozen of warriors and only a handful of fellow apprentices. Or at least, what _looked_ like to be apprentices from Shadowpaw's view "Well, here we are. You'll behave yourself, right Shadowpaw?" Coldbite growled.

Shadowpaw turned his head "Of course! I'm not a kit you know." The tom replied. Coldbite narrowed his eyes and wiggled his whiskers "Look, I promise I won't do anything..." Shadowpaw rubbed his wet nose "I'm just going to take to the other apprentices, is that so wrong?"

Coldbite rolled his eyes "Whatever. But if I hear anything from you, I'm reporting it back to Frostmask." The grey tabby replied. Shadowpaw had only gave a loving smile and trotted off to the group of chatting young cats. 

A dark-ginger tabby quickly turned her head to the tall, smokey furred tom. She gave him a smile "Hello! I've never seen you before. Is this your first time at a gathering?" The she purred.

Shadowpaw nodded "Yep! I'm Shadowpaw, I'm training to be SunClan's finest warrior." He stood proudly.

The she cocked her head "Is that so? Well, I'm Hollypaw. And I'm from AshClan..." She pointed her tail at a bright orange she "That's Frogpaw, she's the only StormClan apprentice." The tail swayed over to three different apprentices "Ebonypaw. He has a weird speech impediment."

The brown tom's eyes narrowed "Wat? No! It's jus' da way I talk darn it! I dun talk weird!" He huffed. Hollypaw placed a paw on his shoulder "It's okay, everyone has their problems!" Ebonypaw growled lowly and pouted.

Holly turns her attention to a tall she "Cedarpaw. As you can see, she's as tall as you are." Cedarpaw raised her head proudly. Finally, Hollypaw trotted over to a certain she with her long bottom fangs sticking out her mouth with small eyes and what seems to be a deformed muzzle.

Shadowpaw jolted away from the she "Oh StarClan! Is she alright?!" He yowled.

Hollypaw's face hardened "Yes. What do you mean?" 

"Well..." Shadowpaw started "I mean, just look at her face! Did a badger attack you while you were coming out of the womb?" He cackled.

Cedarpaw defensibly pounced between Shadowpaw and the other she "You do _not_ make fun of Larkpaw, you got that?" She hissed.

Ebonypaw stood next to the taller she "Yeah! No one makes fun'a her!" He snarled.

Larkpaw gave a warm smile at the two apprentices before Shadowpaw had spoken again "Look, I was caught off by surprise. That's all."

Cedarpaw huffed and turned to Larkpaw "C'mon. Rowanblaze and Poppypool are probably looking for us." Larkpaw nodded and trotted off to find the older warriors while Ebony followed behind.

"Geez, I didn't know SwampClan cats held grudges." Shadowpaw commented.

Hollypaw lashed her tail and followed the other apprentices "You know you should've at least said sorry." Frogpaw said with her raspy voice before following the others. Shadowpaw flicked an ear with eyes wide. Once again, he was caught off by surprised. 

* * *

Finally it was time for the clans to settle down and listen to the four leaders respectfully "Okay, Now that we've all settled. We can start we the gathering!" The golden-brown she bounced happily "Horsestar would you like to go first?"

A dark-brown she rose up and gave a nod to the other she "Thank you, Sweetstar." Her deep voice spoke as she stood above the clan cats "Well... unfortunately, StormClan has lost a few warriors and a majority of it's apprentices due to a recent encounter of lone rouges. We've managed to _get rid_ of a few before they had ran off. They're still in the territory of the clans somewhere. But I wouldn't suggest underestimating them. My more experienced and skilled warriors came back from the fight with bad cuts and even nearly blinded my deputy. I warn you all of these rouges and suggest you double border patrols." She said before stepping back to join with fellow leaders.

There was low muttering in the crowd before A grey-speckled tabby stepped forward "I'm sorry that happened to you. Horsestar. I hope your clan can thrive again as it did before." He mewed. Horsestar only nodded as the tabby continued to speak "As for SwampClan. Nothing major has come to affect us. Our senior warrior Rosemaryfur had finally retired and became an elder last moon. So, you won't be seeing her in further gatherings..." The tom purred. There was an empty silence. The speckled tom quickly turned back to Sweetstar "So! You wanna go next, Sweetstar?" He said awkwardly.

Sweetstar smiled "Well, there isn't much news in AshClan. We have plenty of prey to keep us fat, and borders have been clean. But thank you anyway Toadstar!" 

Toadstar gave a friendly smile before the large tuxedo stepped forward "Oh! Heavystar! Have gotten news?" Toadstar mewed.

Heavystar laid on his belly "Well, SunClan has be thriving with new litters of kits. Pretty soon, we'll have yet another litter." He mewed.

Horsestar chuckled "That sounds like a out of mouths to feed." She commented.

Heavystar sighed "That's because it is. If it wasn't for Brambleberry's excellent work. We wouldn't have this many kittens."

Sweetstar cocked her head "Brambleberry?" She asked. 

"Oh, that's right. SunClan is proud to announce it's new medicine cat. Brambleberry, will you step forward?" Heavystar smiled. 

Happily trotted a brown tabby with his head held high. He turned to face the crowd and stood proudly, his collar glimmering in the moonlight "Unforgettably, that means that Ashberry has sadly passed away last moon." Heavystar's ears dropped as he lowered his head "I only hope that StarClan had shown her the path back to her family." The other leaders bowed their heads in the moment of silence for the former medicine cat.

Horsestar raised her head once more "So, I guess this is the end of the gathering?" She mewed.

Sweetstar nodded "I guess so. AshClan! It's time." She called.

Toadstar leapt down from his rock "SwampClan! Let's roll!" He said cheerfully.

Horsestar and Heavystar had only nodded to the other leapt down to meet their clans "SunClan." Heavystar said plainly as his clan followed him.

Shadowpaw quickly trotted over to Coldbite "So, how was that as your first gathering?" He asked.

Shadowpaw trotted closer to Coldbite "It was boring." He replied.

Coldbite rolled his eyes "Well, at least you behaved yourself." 


	3. Chapter 1

_Shadowpaw's Fangs_

Shadowpaw gleefully broke from Coldbite's watchful eye, and leapt into camp with the rest of his clanmates. "Shadowpaw!" Called a ginger tabby. He trotted over to the taller apprentice and smiles.

Shadowpaw smiled back "Hello, Gingerpaw."

"How was the gathering? Was it scary? Did you get to talk to the other clans?" Gingerpaw pranced.

"Shut up, Gingerpaw! Can't you see Shadowpaw's tired?" Interrupted an orange-patched tom "But... Did you?" 

Shadowpaw sat down and groomed his pelt "Yeah, I've spoken with some other apprentices from other clans." He replied.

"What was it like?" Gingerpaw asked.

"They were all stuck up, I've even met an ugly she." Shadowpaw replied.

Gingerpaw's eyes widened "Woah! How ugly was she?" He smirked.

"Hideous, bad breath too. But that's what you get from eating frogs all day."

"So, she was from SwampClan?" The orange-patched tom asked.

"Correct, Heatherpaw!" Shadowpaw replied.

Heavystar broke into camp and hopped onto the highrock "Clan meeting." He called bluntly. The crowd of SunClan cats quickly grew quiet and stared at Heavystar as if he were an ancestor right in front of him. Heavystar stood tall and met the gaze of his fellow clanmates "Tonight at the gathering, the leader of StormClan has warned of group of rouges in the territory of the clans. As we know it, they are no ordinary group of scrap. Apparently, they're experienced fighters and they've nearly wiped out StormClan's apprentices, along with a few of their warriors badly hurt in the battle." There was muttering between the members of SunClan before Heavystar had raised his fat paw to silence them "And it is because of that, border patrols will be doubled and no apprentice is allowed out of camp without a warrior beside them. All of this will be temporary until the group is dealt with. Clan dismissed." The tom mewed before hopping off his rock into his den along with Frostmask and Brambleberry. 

"Aw! No fair!" Gingerpaw whined "I don't wanna stay cooped up in camp!"

Heatherpaw swatted Gingerpaw's nose "Mousebrain! Didn't you listen to Heavystar at all? This group is seriously dangerous. They nearly wiped out the apprentices in StormClan!" Shadowpaw chuckled as Heatherpaw quickly turn to him "Was there any apprentices at the gathering at all?" He mewed.

"Only one. She's the only one still alive as I heard." Shadowpaw repiled. Heatherpaw's eyes widened as Gingerpaw scooted closer to the black tom. Shadowpaw held his head high "Yep! They've must've done something with her throat, because she sounded awful!" He cackled before a red tabby walked up to the young apprentices

"You three should head to bed. It's late you know." He mewed.

"Aw! C'mon Redstrike! Just a little longer?" Gingerpaw pleaded. 

"No can do." Redstrike replied "Everyone's going to be super busy tomorrow. So We're going to train apprentices super early, just to keep you guys from falling behind of your warrior ceremonies." 

Gingerpaw frowned and dragged his tail back to his den "Okay... C'mon guys." He called.

Heatherpaw's ears drooped as he too followed gloomily walked to the apprentice den. Shadowpaw was soon to follow before Redstrike and spoken again "Oh Shadowpaw! I heard about your mother, must be exciting to be a big brother! I hope she's doing alright." He mewed cheerfully. Shadowpaw silently dismissed the comment and entered the den.

The smokey tom curled up next to the orange-patched apprentice before wrapping his tail around his body. Heatherpaw turned to the other tom and purred as he rests his head against his black fur "It's going to very tiring tomorrow. I'm pretty sure our mentors are going to train us until we drop." He chuckled.

Shadowpaw purred and licked the curly fur of the other tom "Yeah." He replied. The two huddled each other and drifted off to sleep while Gingerpaw struggled to find a comfortable position to rest.

* * *

"Wake up, sleepy-heads!" Screeched a light-grey she. Heatherpaw and Shadowpaw jolted from their bedding.

"Good morning, Jayfrost." Gingerpaw drooled. 

"Good morning, squirt! It's time to wake up. I'm sure you've been made aware that you'll start to be woken up earlier, right?" Jayfrost smiled. The young apprentices nodded while rubbing their eyes "Good!" Jayfrost quickly walked over and nudged Gingerpaw "Get up, get up, get up! Warriors are never tired!" 

"I disagree." Shadowpaw grunted.

Redstrike soon entered the den and stood "Come along, young warriors! We have only so much time!" 

After a bit of more "encouraging" from the older warriors, Shadowpaw and his friends were out of the den and back into the sunlight. Standing in front of them was a dark-brown tabby who had waved to them. Shadowpaw's eyes narrowed "What is he doing here?" He asked. 

"Unfortunately, Frostmask is on border patrol. So Hollowcall is going to train you today Shadowpaw." Jayfrost quickly replied.

"But he can't even speak. How is he suppose to help me?"

"Hollowcall maybe mute. But he still has way to communicate. Don't be rude, he was to only one available at the time."

Shadowpaw rolled his eyes "Fine." 

Hollowcall gave Shadowpaw a smile before trotting up to the black tom. Shadowpaw rolled his eyes before the group of clan cats had separated to train their apprentices respectfully. Hollowcall and Shadowpaw were in an open field. The tabby had readied his claws and swayed his tail at the fellow tom as a taunting flag.

Shadowpaw raised a brow "You want me to fight you?" He mewed. Hollowcall nodded "Well. Alright then." Shadowpaw launched himself at the tabby before Hollowcall had sprang up and grappled the tom with his front paws. Shadowpaw hissed before kicking Hollow's back legs and clawing his back. Hollowcall lifted the tall tom and rolled him on his back before pinning Shadowpaw's limbs.

Hollowcall smiled. The apprentice growled "Get off me!" He hissed. Hollowcall leapt from the apprentice and scratched the ground. Shadowpaw huffed "Look, you're _not_ clever at all. The reason why you won this fight is because I'm tired is all. This isn't the usual time I train with Frostmask, so I still have to get use to it. Got it?" He growled. Hollowcall turned his head and scratched the ground again. This time, he padded over to the taller tom and held his ear as he dragged Shadowpaw to his scratching.

_You are too careless and sloppy._

Shadowpaw made a quick glance at the tabby "Sloppy?" He grumbled "I wasn't being sloppy, I was only going easy on you." 

Hollowcall cocked his head and raised a brow "What? You're mute!" Shadowpaw hissed. Hollowcall scratched the ground once again. 

_But I am not deaf, nor blind._ _Fight me_ _again, and don't hold back. All I ask is that you don't kill me._

Shadowpaw shook his head "No, you're not worth my time. I want to train with my true mentor, Frostmask." Hollowcall rolled his and began scratching the ground before Shadowpaw had stopped him "I told you already. I want Frostmask to teach me. Not someone who steals shes from other toms." Shadowpaw turned from Hollowcall before the tom nipped at Shadowpaw's smoky tail. The apprentice quickly faced the tom "Hey! Watch it!" He hissed. Hollowcall had only gave a small smirk before Shadowpaw had swung his claw at the him. Hollowcall had only swiftly shifted his body away from the attack and strikes at the tom's side. Shadowpaw yowled before hitting Holllowcall's face with his claws and leaping onto of the tom. Hollowcall shook the apprentice off his pelt and turned to strike again only for Shadowpaw to push the warrior and striking at his nose. Hollowcall falls onto his back before Shadowpaw leaped once again, Hollowcall quickly rolled to one side as Shadowpaw hit the ground. The larger tom gave a smile as he slowly circled around Shadowpaw. The two gave a quick gaze to one another before Shadowpaw rushed over to Hollowcall, he flashed his fangs and lunged at the warriors throat. Hollowcall quickly ducked under Shadowpaw and sank his teeth into the black tom's slender tail and throwing him across the field. 

Shadowpaw fell onto the ground with a thump, he struggled to his feet before Hollowcall had once again pinned the tom. Shadowpaw groaned as Hollowcall gave him a friendly smile before jumping off his body. Shadowpaw heaved as he shakily stood "Don't... th-think that you-you're clever!" He snapped "Because you're not!" Hollowcall trotted over to Shadowpaw before the apprentice had shoved him "Go away! You're not clever! Never was! It was just luck, she would never have chosen you if Eaglestorm were still alive!" He hissed before clawing a nip at the warrior's ear. Shadowpaw stared at Hollowcall before the tom had placed his paw over his ear and gazed at the blood that was now in the pad of his paw. Shadowpaw stormed away from the tabby, running in whatever direction, the young apprentice rushed into the forest and slammed his paw in a local stream "I hate you!" He yowled. 

"Shadowpaw?" A quiet mew echoed through the black tom's ears before he turned to see Heatherpaw laying in the stream. 

"What are you doing here? Isn't Redstrike supposed to be training you?" asked Shadowpaw. 

"Well..." The tom started "I usually run away from that old goof whenever he's overworking me. You know how he is. But you're the one who doesn't do that, you actually _like_ to worked to you're core. What's with you?"

"Well, I like to train with my mentor Frostmask. Or by any other cat in the clan. It can be anyone, anyone at all. But if it's Hollowcall..." The tom growled "You know how I feel about Hollowcall!" 

Heatherpaw brushed his tail under Shadowpaw's chin "Oh, I know. Please don't rant to me. It hurts my ears." He smirked before grooming Shadowpaw's pelt "Anyway, you wanna chat for a little bit? Redstrike's probably looking for me, along with Hollowcall. So it won't be long before we're found."

"That'll be nice." Shadowpaw purred before a sudden snap of a twig catches his attention. The two toms quickly shot a glance behind them. Nothing. Shadowpaw sighed while Heatherpaw's fur stood on their ends "Aw, poor Heatherpaw's afraid of a noise?" Shadowpaw chuckled.

"Shut up, mousebrain." He growled "We should really find our mentors."

"Aw! But we were just about to have alone time!" Shadowpaw whined. 

"No, I'm serious. What if it's that rouge group Heavystar was talking about?" Heatherpaw coward. 

"Then we'll fight them. The StormClan apprentices were weak. You and I have SunClan's best warriors for mentors, so we'll put up a good fight." Shadowpaw replied before flashing his fangs "Come out, cowards! We're not afraid of you!" 

The young tom twirled around, frequently searching for any kind of figure nearby "What's wrong? Afraid of apprentices? Last I heard, you murdered a bunch before!" He hissed, but sound of flowing water and tweeting birds was all that responded to Shadowpaw's demands. He scanned the area, quietly growling as he did. 

"Please, let's just leave." Heatherpaw pleaded "We're already in a lot of trouble, I don't wanna be dead too." 

Shadowpaw turned to the patched tom "I just want to make sure they're not here, okay? It'll be a second." He mewed with a sweeten tone before turning to face whatever he thought was there. Heatherpaw poked his head from behind the taller tom with his claws unsheathed and his fangs ready for any unknown encounter. There was an eerie silence that deafened the toms as their bodies tenses and their eyes darted around for any sign of another feline. Heatherpaw slightly dug his claws into the ground before a large dark-red tabby pounced from the bushes and in front of two apprentices.

"There you two are!" Redstrike hissed "It's still very dangerous for you to be by yourselves! Hollowcall! Jayfrost! I found them!" 

Jayfrost quickly padded over to Redstrike's call along with Gingerpaw and Hollowcall "Thank StarClan." The she sighed before furrowing her face "You mousebrains! You could've been killed if we were gone for long enough!" 

Gingerpaw poked his from Jayfrost "Heatherpaw! Shadowpaw! You're alive!" He mewed before his mentor shot him a look, the younger tom gave an awkward smile before hiding behind her again. 

"We're heading back to camp now. Heatherpaw, I will be speaking with you later. Frostmask will be speaking with you too, Shadowpaw." Redstrike said bluntly as he turned back to return to camp. The warriors formed a circle around the apprentices as they followed Redstrike.

* * *

The group of clan cats arrived back to their rightful home, to their surprise Brambleberry had ran up to the group "Anyone hurt? Need a quick check up? Any herbs to help you get up earlier?" He mewed.

"No, I believe we're all okay." Jayfrost mewed. 

Brambleberry nodded "Okay, good." He trotted over to Hollowcall with a little bounce in his step "Softbreeze is doing alright now. She and her kits are ready to see you now, sorry it took so long." Hollowcall smiled brightly before hugged the medicine cat before running over to medicine den. Brambleberry smiled and walked over Shadowpaw "You're allowed to see your mother as well, Shadowpaw." 

"I'll visit her later." Shadowpaw repiled. 

Brambleberry cocked his head "Huh? But Shadowpaw, it's been two moons! Surely Softbreeze would want to see you, along with your other siblin-"

"I said I'll visit her later, kittypet! Don't pester me!" Shadowpaw hissed.

"Shadowpaw!" Scowled a white Siamese-tabby. Shadowpaw quickly turned to face the deputy standing from a distance. She walked to face the young apprentice as cats swiftly moved from her path and quiet down. Shadowpaw coward as the she stood in front of him. She furiously tapped her paw "A word." She said bluntly before turning around "We do not have a lot of time."

* * *

Frostmask had led Shadowpaw away from the camp once more and traveled to The Great Creek, they were only barely entering AshClan territory when Frostmask had stopped "So, you're running away from training when I am not around?" She asked simply.

"Well, you see-" Before Shadowpaw could finish his sentence, Frostmask had stroke him at his face.

"No excuses!" The she hissed. Shadowpaw coward, he had never seen his mentor this angry. Frostmask lashed her tail "So, you want to disrespect Hollowcall's time and energy to train you to be the best warrior you can?"

"No..." Shadowpaw whimpered.

Frostmask's claws unsheathed "What was that? I couldn't hear you!" She yowled

"No!" Shadowpaw barked back.

Frostmask and struck him again "Do not lie to me!" She circled the young tom, the furious stomping of her paws shook Shadowpaw's body "I don't appreciate receiving news of _my_ own apprentice behaving like a mousebrained kit! Especially now!" She pounced onto Shadowpaw.

The smoked tom rolled over to the side and jolted from the ground "I'm sorry! But what do you expect me to learn from a warrior who can't speak?!" Shadowpaw hissed before Frostmask had swat his face.

"He is _still_ a warrior! And as a warrior, he _deserves_ respect!" Frostmask hissed as she rushed into Shadowpaw and pinned him down "And I am the deputy of SunClan! I have responsibilities of my own that I must take care of! When I hear that you're acting no better than a spoiled kittypet... It embarrass me!" She hopped off of Shadowpaw and sat next to him "I expect _better_ from you, Shadowpaw." 

The tom sat up "But, I am better! You said that I was the most impressive apprentice you've had!" He mewed.

"I've only had one other apprentice. You are impressive. However, what's the use of those skills when no one respects you?" Frostmask repiled.

Shadowpaw's head dropped "It doesn't matter when I can just beat everyone up." He muttered. 

Frostmask sighed deeply and stood from her sitting position. Shadowpaw quickly readied himself for another strike from the she-cat, however, Frostmask had begun walking back to their camp. She didn't spoke, she didn't quickly turn back around to pounce on her apprentice. She just walked silently as Shadowpaw hesitantly followed behind.

* * *

"That was all?" Gingerpaw asked.

"She just walked back to Heavystar as soon as we got here." Shadowpaw replied. 

"That's weird. Have you seen Heatherpaw yet? He's been gone with Redstrike from a long time." Gingerpaw nervously scratched the ground as he eyed Shadowpaw.

The taller tom shook his head and laid in his bedding "Nope, Redstrike's probably lecturing him again." Shadowpaw curled into a ball and rests his head on Heatherpaw's usual side of the bedding "You know how he is."

Gingerpaw shook his head "I don't know. I don't train with him, or speak with him. I only talk to you guys and Jayfrost." 

Shadowpaw tiredly shut his eyes "Well, you can talk to Heatherpaw when he gets back." He yawned "Just give it a moment he'll be here."

Gingerpaw's ears drooped "Ok..." He slummed back in his bedding and stared at the open den. 

"Oh! Sorry." Gingerpaw repiled.

Shadowpaw shook his head gently before falling into a slumber. Gingerpaw stood awake still looking for Heatherpaw's return. He swayed his tail nervously and bit his paws in frustration. Finally Heatherpaw came back with Redstrike, his fur was ruffled and his face was dirty. The patched tom walked into the den only to be greeted by Gingerpaw "You're back!" He mewed. Heatherpaw nodded. "What happened? You look like Redstrike had sat on top of you." Gingerpaw chuckled.

"He spared with me. That's all, as punishment for being so mousebrained." Heaterpaw growled lowly. 

Gingerpaw laughed "Well that explains it! I bet you learned your lesson, huh?"

"Shut up." Heatherpaw shot a look at the tabby "Don't talk to me." He hissed before curling next to Shadowpaw and dozing off.

Gingerpaw suddenly stopped laughing "I'm-" He was quickly interrupted by a low snarl from Heatherpaw before nuzzling into Shadowpaw's sleek fur. Gingerpaw sighed and turned from his fellow apprentices "I'm sorry." He mewed. 


End file.
